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Where to Find Information about the Winter Olympics in Turin
The 2006 Winter Olympics will be held in the city of Turin (Torino) in the Piedmont (Piemonte) Region of northern Italy.

Winter Olympics Basic Facts

* Dates: February 10-26; Opening Ceremony, Friday February 10, 8 PM (Italian time) at the newly built Olympic Stadium (Stadio Olimpico) in Turin.
* Location: Events will take place at 14 competition sites, both in Turin and in six villages in the mountains of the Piedmont Region.
* Medals Presentation: Medals will be presented in Turin's central square, Piazza Castello, in a ceremony starting at 8PM (Italian time) each evening. 84 Gold Medals will be presented.
* Sports: Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsled, Cross-country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard, Speed Skating
* Number of Athletes: Approximately 2500 athletes from 85 countries will compete.
* History: This is the 20th Winter Olympics to be held. The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France, not far from Turin.

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Turin Gets Ready For Winter Olympics

Coming from the mayor of a city about to host the Winter Olympics, Sergio Chiamparino's deepest wish might seem strange. "I just hope that it won't snow again until the end of the Games," he says bluntly.

A heavy snowfall last weekend brought Turin, the host city for the 20th Winter Games, to a halt. That is not the kind of experience Chiamparino wants to repeat when several hundred thousand Olympic visitors are in town.

The same storm, however, made Evelina Christillin's dreams come true. All winter, one of the driest on record, the slopes above Turin had remained bare. With more than a foot of snow now covering the hillsides, "we have a much better backdrop for TV and for the spectators," says the vice president of the Games' organizing committee.

A week away from the opening ceremony on Feb. 10, the extension to Turin's airport is finally open, the venues have been tested, and the Olympic villages are ready to receive their guests.

But even a fresh layer of snow cannot hide the fact that the city is not completely ready.

The sports facilities — newly built arenas, and refurbished venues in Turin and on the ski slopes 90 minutes' drive into the Alps — are elegant and, organizers say, have proved their practicality during test events over the last year.

But the new ice rink where speed-skating events will be staged, for example, has not been landscaped, and sits in the middle of acres of mud and rubble. And streets are still being repaired all over the city, to the fury of drivers and public-transport passengers stuck in traffic jams.

Several years of construction projects have complicated many residents' lives. That may help to explain the apparent lack of early enthusiasm for the Games, whose $4.1 billion cost has raised the same questions here that dog any modern Olympic Games.

At the same time, say observers, "Torinese" are not flamboyant Neapolitans, nor emotional Romans. Unlike their Mediterranean cousins, they are reserved and slow to express themselves.

Indeed, the Games' slogan — "Passion lives here" — "is simply not true," says Gabriele Ferraris, born and bred in Turin, and now the Metro editor of the city's leading daily, La Stampa. "It is very hard to ignite a Torinese's passion. But once it is aflame, it leads to big things. As the Games approach, I see people beginning to feel it."

"In Turin, our spirit is to talk about the problems and only later be happy with the way we solved them," adds Chiamparino, who often chides his fellow residents for being a city of grumblers. But the Games, he hopes, will stir new pride in a town that has suffered deeply in recent years from the decline of its leading company, the car manufacturer Fiat.

Games organizers also complain that they had to battle indifference in the country as a whole about the Olympics, which "for a long time were very much seen as a regional, North-West Italian affair," says Christillin, who led Turin's bid committee.

All that has changed in recent weeks, however, not least because a local hero, Giorgio Rocca, won five World Cup slalom ski races in a row, putting him and the Games where he is expected to win a medal on the front page of Italian newspapers and magazines.

Disappointing ticket sales have picked up, says Christillin, and now stand at 700,000. Organizers hope that — as happened in Athens during the 2004 Summer Olympics — sales once the Games begin will push the figure over their 800,000 target. "We are quite happy" with the results so far, Christillin says.

At any rate, the 80,000 free tickets to the nightly concerts planned for the Medals Plaza were snapped up in four days — a sign, says Chiamparino, that "people are getting caught up in the Olympic spirit and enthusiasm."

The mayor and officials at the Games organizing committee say they have done all that they can to prepare for the influx of 9,000 extra policemen, 5,000 athletes and their support staff, 10,000 media workers, and a million spectators. Their plans, however, are at the mercy of the weather.

The roads into the Alps that lead to the skiing, snowboarding, and bobsled venues are narrow, two-lane affairs snaking up steep-sided valleys. "They are not perfect to allow transport in bad weather," worries Christillin. "If we get another heavy snowfall like last weekend ... "

That, however, is out of her hands. "All we have to do now," she says, "is to keep our nerves cool, and keep our fingers crossed."

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Opening spectacle launches Games

The 20th Winter Olympics got under way with a spectacular opening ceremony in Turin on Friday.

The show heralds the start of 16 days of competition, four years after the last Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

A capacity crowd of 35,000 and a television audience of up to two billion worldwide watched the ceremony.

About 2,500 athletes from 84 countries paraded into the arena, while Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo, 36, lit the Olympic flame.

Belmondo, Italy's most decorated winter Olympian, won 10 medals in her career including two golds.

She crowned a final torch relay around the stadium, started by Italian skiing great Alberto Tomba.

Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi declared the Games open, while International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge urged the athletes to "inspire and motivate the future generations".

"Athletes, you are role models. Please compete in a spirit of fair play, mutual understanding and respect, and above all please refuse doping," said Rogge.

"Our world today is in need of peace, tolerance and brotherhood and the values of the Olympic Games can deliver these to us.

"May the Games be held in peace and in the true spirit of the Olympic truce. Show us how sport unites by overcoming political, religious and language barriers and you will show us the world we all long for."

Rogge's comments came after the International Skiing Federation suspended eight cross-country skiers from the first five days of competition due to abnormally high red blood cell counts in their blood.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/4699248.stm

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[kamar]

Gold !!!!
The first Gold medal for Italy :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thank you Armin Zoeggeler :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Ricky]

Go Russia!

[Ricky]

Ricky wrote: Go Russia!

These two train in Chicago

[Ricky]

They won the short program already. They train in Chicago.

Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the opening ceremony, being stuck at the airport

[Ricky]

double

[Ricky]

Going streaking
In 1964, the Soviet Union won its first Olympic figure skating medal, a gold by Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov in pairs. Since then, teams from the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and Russia have won every gold medal in pairs, a streak that extends through 2002, when Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze shared the gold medal with Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier (watch recap of 'Skate-gate'). The streak of 11 consecutive golds for one country is the longest in any Winter Olympic event, and Tatyana Totmiyanina and Maxim Marinin, the best of three strong Russian pairs, are favored to extend it tonight in Torino. They also could kick off a dominant Olympics for their nation in figure skating; Russians are favored in all four events.

[Ricky]

I hope that is GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ricky]

What a couple! They won the gold medal to continue the Russian domination in figure skating pairs. Two years ago, Maxim lost control and dropped Tatyana on the ice when they skated at one of the international competitions. It was an above the head lift and she flew from the top face down breaking her shoulder, forehead, and had a severe concussion. She does not remember a thing about the fall. Maxim saw it all and blamed himself that their coach was concerned they would never skate again as Maxim would not be able to pull it through again remembering the incident. Tatyana did not even watch the tape that terrified the world. Their coach, Oleg Vasilev, an Olympic gold champion himself, worked hard to make them overcome it, saying the worst was behind them. They won the medal. These two were standing on the pedestal and they almost had tears in their eyes as the Russian anthem was played to recognize their victory and Russian achievement in the sport. Before that Maxim kissed Tatyana’s hand in deep gratitude for staying by him even after the fall to win the Olympic Gold, the dream of every world class athlete. Only they know how hard it has been to win and how much they deserve this sweet victory in Torino! For themselves. What a couple!

[Ricky]

Ricky wrote: What a couple! They won the gold medal to continue the Russian domination in figure skating pairs. Two years ago, Maxim lost control and dropped Tatyana on the ice when they skated at one of the international competitions. It was an above the head lift and she flew from the top face down breaking her shoulder, forehead, and had a severe concussion. She does not remember a thing about the fall. Maxim saw it all and blamed himself that their coach was concerned they would never skate again as Maxim would not be able to pull it through again remembering the incident. Tatyana did not even watch the tape that terrified the world. Their coach, Oleg Vasilev, an Olympic gold champion himself, worked hard to make them overcome it, saying the worst was behind them. They won the medal. These two were standing on the pedestal and they almost had tears in their eyes as the Russian anthem was played to recognize their victory and Russian achievement in the sport. Before that Maxim kissed Tatyana’s hand in deep gratitude for staying by him even after the fall to win the Olympic Gold, the dream of every world class athlete. Only they know how hard it has been to win and how much they deserve this sweet victory in Torino! For themselves. What a couple!

[Ricky]

"I was ready to cry and they were almost crying," said Oleg Vasiliev, their coach and a fellow member of the Soviet/Russian machine as the 1984 gold medalist. "Because they skated good, probably as good as they can."

Their graceful routine to "Romeo and Juliet" was reminiscent of the great Soviet pairs, so fluid they seemed to be floating across the ice. Everything was done in perfect unison, from their jumps to the delicate gestures of their hands.

She soared above the ice on their throw jumps, and they made their difficult lifts look easy.

"I have no words to express how great it is to be Olympic champion," Maxim Marinin said. "So many people try to be Olympic champion and not so many get to be it."